The Homesteaders

I - Why did the Homesteaders Move West?

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

How the Transcontinental railroad changed the US - BBC

  How did American government try to populate the Great Plains in the years after 1860?

YouTube

Increasing Settlement on the Plains - Mr Cloke

Westward expanions - the settlers - simple overview introduction

The Homestead Act

The Exodusters - Mr Cloke

The Transcontinental Railroad

The Pacific Railroad Act - Mr Cloke

AQA-recommended Source

The Diary of Abbie Bright, 1870-71 includes a really vivid account of her journey west

Source A

An advert for the Chicago, St.  Paul, and Milwaukee Railway (1912)

Having won the land from Britain and Mexico, the federal government was anxious to populate the Plains and take physical possession of the land.  It therefore passed:

• The Homestead Act (1862)
  • • allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land free if they lived and worked on it for 5 years. 

• The Timber Culture Act (1873)
  • •  gave settlers a further 160 acres, provided they planted 40 acres of trees.

• The Desert Land Act (1877)
  • •  gave settlers the right to buy 640 cres cheaply in areas where water was scarce.

• The Pacific Railroad Act (1862)
  • •  for every mile of track the railroad companies built, gave them 10 square miles of land and loaned them $16,000 to build it ($48,000 in mountainous areas).

Why did the Homesteaders go West?

[SOME ADDED ASPECTS]

Some of the general reasons why people moved West in the 1860s-1890s were the same as why people travelled west in the 1840s:

• Lack of opportunity/ the expense of land in the east (esp.  younger sons). 

• Poverty and the hope of a better life (esp.  the hundreds of thousands of immigrants came from eastern and northern Europe, including the UK). 

• Persecution (esp.  Jews from eastern Europe, and other religious groups such as the Amish and the Mennonites). 

• Propaganda, and the illusion that a life of luxury would be waiting for them. 

• The idea of Manifest Destiny: the belief that they were part of a great idealistic movement – that it was their right and responsibility – to spread civilisation across the continent.  ‘Go West, young man, and grow up with the country!’ advised Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune newspaper, in 1865.  And many people did just that. 

However, there were three NEW factors, which particularly encouraged/enabled mass-migration west in the years after 1862:

1.  The Homestead Act

• Simplicity:

  the process had minimal cost and complexity.  For a small registration fee (typically $12) and the requirement that they improve the land (build a home, cultivate crops) within five years.  The terms of the Act were clear and achievable (settle there for 5 years, make a ‘good faith effort’ to improve the land).  After five years, land ownership (‘proving up’) was confirmed with no legal obstacles on payment of $6.  This made it very attractive. 

• Ownership and Security:

  the promise of owning land permanently for nothing but hard work offered people security.  People who had been renting or living on shared land saw a chance to gain independence.  The possibility of building a new life in the West was part of the American dream—owning land, building a farm, and becoming self-sufficient. 

• Money:

  the prospect of free land was very attractive – a once in a lifetime chance – for people who could NEVER have afforded a farm back home.  The Homesteaders Act gave them the chance to get their own land at the cost of nothing but hard work. 

• Emancipated Slaves and Immigrants:

  the Homestead Act had loose eligibility criteria and was open to a wide range of people, including single women, immigrants, former slaves and former soldiers.  Immigrants could file their claim before even going to the USA.  This made it particularly attractive for new immigrants seeking economic stability and for formerly enslaved African Americans looking for a fresh.

2.  The Civil War

• African Americans:

  although slavery was abolished after the American Civil War (1865-77), the ‘Reconstruction era’ in the South was a time of racial violence and ‘Jim Crow’ laws.  Many of the first homesteaders in the American West therefore were freed formerly-enslaved black Americans (e.g. the 'exodusters' who moved to Kansas), fleeing the oppression and seeking freedom & equality as well as free land. 

• Declaration of Secession:

  although Northern politicians had wanted to pass the Homestead Act much earlier, it was blocked in Congress by Southern politicians, who feared that states populated by settlers would become ‘free’ states.  Southern politicians had also been holding up the development of transcontinental railroads.  After the South seceded in 1861, however, President Lincoln was able in 1862 to pass the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railroad Act through Congress. 

• Disbanded soldiers:

  when the Civil War ended, thousands of demobilised soldiers and freed slaves drifted onto the Plains looking for a fresh start.  In 1872, the Homestead Act was amended to allow veterans to count their time of service toward the five-year residency requirement, making it easier for them to claim land; this encouraged many veterans to move west and settle on the Plains. 

• Economic developments:

  in the North, after the Civil War, the economy grew, and big business began to squeeze out the small businesses and artisan workshops … some of whom moved west seeking new opportunities on the Plains.  Their expertise and services, in turn made the Plains more attractive to other settlers. 

  in the South, the Civil War damaged the economy, and the abolition of slavery ruined many plantations.  Poor white farmers moved westward to escape the poverty and hardship of post-war life. 

• Desperados, Outlaws and Adventurers:

  during the Civil War, young men on both sides, who would otherwise have stayed at home, instead joined the army and travelled around the country, living a life of great excitement and danger.  After the war they could not settle down into their old life, and set off West.  They WANTED adventure and the good life.  Some of them – such as the famous James Brothers – were mentally-damaged and violent, and ended up getting into a life of crime. 

3.  The Railroads

• Accessible:

  the railroads made it a lot easier and quicker to travel to the Plains, and to transport supplies – much less dangerous than going by wagon.  And it opened a national market to sell their produce to. 

• Sale of railroad land:

  the railroad builders were granted a strip of land a mile wide for their building.  They sold off what they didn't need very cheaply. 

• Protection:

  the government provided US Army troops and forts to protect the settlers against the Indigenous tribes.  They also provided US Marshalls and Judges to help keep law and order.  This provided a sense of security for people worried about venturing into the unknown. 

• Employment on the Railroad:

  a large number of people moved to the Plains to work on the building of the railroads, including hundreds of men who emigrated from China. 

• Campaigns to advertise the land:

  the railroad companies advertised the benefits of Plains life aggressively, to try and encourage more people to use their services. 

• Telegraph:

  an electric telegraph line was laid alongside the tracks, providing communication and contact with family and business contacts all over the world. 

• Settlement:

  where a railroad company built a station, a town often sprang up around it to provide lodgings and services to travellers.  This in itself attracted shopkeepers, farriers, blacksmiths, hotels, bars, lawyers, bankers, undertakers, etc.  And the presence of these services in turn made it safer for settlers to go there, and to get the supplies and equipment they needed.